<div dir="ltr">I'm seeing some good ideas brewing in here. Let's keep them coming. I'm thinking it will be worth it to stretch our wallets for a couple months if it give us room to grow.</div><div class="gmail_extra">
<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, May 22, 2013 at 2:50 PM, Mark Danburg-Wyld <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:danburgwyld@gmail.com" target="_blank">danburgwyld@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr"><div><div><div><div>1) Yes, I'd be willing to take on higher dues for a period to help cover a larger space<br></div>2) I think a sliding scale below $25/month for "Associates" would be a fine idea<br>

<br></div>Some of the other ideas thrown out in email here sound a lot like some of the other ideas thrown around in conversation last night - rental lockers/reserved space, "corporate" members, etc. Other ideas we threw around last night for broader consideration included: some kind of rummage sale benefiting EMS; fixing up the RedBull game and renting it to one of the arcades; fixing up the RedBull game, changing it to Ducks & Beavers, and taking it to the next Civil War game; offering the space as a shop/class space for whomever but taking a share of the gate; applying for grants/asking for corporate sponsors... I'm sure I'm forgetting others. Some of the ideas aren't so viable in the slightly cramped current location. <br>

<br></div>My sense is that yeah, it'll be somewhat painful to cover the costs of a big move. But we're all about living on the edge of what's possible, aren't we? <br><br></div>Thanks,<br></div><div class="HOEnZb">
<div class="h5"><div class="gmail_extra">

<br>
All great ideas. I would like to add the possibility of, space permitting, renting table space where one could have<br>
their own project station that they wouldn't have to tear down each trip.<br>
<span><font color="#888888"><br>
-Darrell<br>
</font></span><div><div><br>
> I would be willing to pay more for the right space in the right<br>
> location. The current EMS location isn't very usable for me (too small<br>
> and too far away), so I'm really just paying to be part of a club and<br>
> support EMS instead of getting access to a space I can really use.<br>
><br>
> Another idea I've seen at some other makerspaces is charging a small fee<br>
> for some extra benefits. Renting lockers is one that makes a lot of<br>
> sense to me. Everyone pays the basic membership fee. If you need some<br>
> space for your projects (like me) you can rent a locker - anything from<br>
> a shelf to lockable cages of various sizes. As long as the storage<br>
> doesn't cost too much to setup, that is a revenue stream that also<br>
> provides one way for people to pay for the amount of use they get out of<br>
> EMS.<br>
><br>
> Another option is paying a small fee for some of the more popular or<br>
> expensive tools (like a 3D printer). This can be hourly, a monthly fee<br>
> for the right to use it, or maybe just a one time fee to get checked out<br>
> on a machine.<br>
><br>
> Holding classes (soldering, arduino, etc.) for a small fee can bring in<br>
> some money, but I'm not sure if there is enough of a market for that.<br>
> We should do those anyone once we have a space that supports that, but<br>
> I'm guessing that would be more to break even and attract new members<br>
> than a revenue source.<br>
><br>
> Finally mixing some business memberships could dramatically subsidize<br>
> the cost. EMS is mostly empty on during the day on weekdays, so having<br>
> one or more small businesses or individuals make use of the space during<br>
> that time could bring in a substantial amount of money. Think of<br>
> something like CodeChops operating out of EMS during the daytime -<br>
> geared towards business uses that wouldn't prevent a normal EMS member<br>
> from working on projects at the same time. I myself my consider up to a<br>
> couple hundred dollars a month for an arrangement like that.<br>
><br>
> Craig<br>
><br>
><br>
> On 5/22/2013 9:49 AM, Rick Osgood wrote:<br>
>> When we first started EMS we had about 5 people involved. We all<br>
>> decided that in order to get things moving, we would have to bite the<br>
>> bullet and rent a space, even though it would cost us each $100 per<br>
>> month at the start. We all came to the agreement that we could each<br>
>> afford $100 for 6 months, worst case scenario. After that if we<br>
>> weren't going anywhere, we could cancel the lease and call it quits.<br>
>> The idea was that once we had a space, we would get more members and<br>
>> our $100 shares would drop every month.<br>
>><br>
>> Well, obviously things have worked out since we now have around 28<br>
>> members and all of our bills are covered by dues alone! However, this<br>
>> growth means that we really need to move to a bigger space in order to<br>
>> keep growing EMS in a positive way. Getting a larger space means our<br>
>> operational costs are going to go up. Right now, we are making just<br>
>> enough money to break even on all of our bills.<br>
>><br>
>> We figure we are going to need an additional $500 to $1000 per month<br>
>> (depending on the particular space) in order to afford a move to a<br>
>> bigger and better space. We were talking about several ways to<br>
>> accomplish this goal at the Hack your Hackerspace meeting last night.<br>
>><br>
>> I have two questions for the members.<br>
>><br>
>> 1) Are any members interested in joining that "financial backers"<br>
>> group? This is the group of members who agree to split the difference<br>
>> on the bills so we can afford to keep growing our organization into<br>
>> something even more awesome. It's hard to say right now what the<br>
>> monthly cost would be, since we don't have a particular space lined<br>
>> up. But we would most likely try to keep it under $100 per month per<br>
>> person in order to actually move forward on a new space. And we would<br>
>> try to get a 6 month commitment so we can back out after that time if<br>
>> we just can't afford it any more.<br>
>><br>
>> 2) We are considering introducing a sliding-scale membership. The<br>
>> idea here is that the lowest "tier" would be $25 per month. Then<br>
>> there would be additional tiers above that price. All members would<br>
>> still have equal rights and access. You wouldn't get anything extra<br>
>> for paying more. But this model allows members to who get a lot of of<br>
>> the space to pay what they think their membership is worth to them if<br>
>> they can afford to pay more.<br>
>><br>
>> What are your thoughts? Would you be interested in belonging to one<br>
>> of these groups? Do you have other ideas for how we can increase our<br>
>> monthly income to afford a better space?<br>
>><br>
>> Rick<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
>><br>
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